Jean Bacon (born 1942) is a British

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professor of

distributed systems A distributed system is a system whose components are located on different networked computers, which communicate and coordinate their actions by passing messages to one another from any system. Distributed computing is a field of computer sci ...

at the Computer Laboratory at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where she co-headed the Opera Research Group from its founding in the 1990s. Previously, she taught at Hatfield Technical College where, in the 1970s, she was involved in the design of one of the earliest

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

degree programs offered in the United Kingdom. Bacon retired from her faculty position at Cambridge in 2010 but has continued to work on Opera projects related to distributed systems and security in

cloud computing Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mul ...

Early life and career

Bacon was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in 1942 in a

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family. She attended

Penistone Grammar School Penistone Grammar School (PGS) is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Penistone, South Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1392, it is the 45th oldest extant school in England with its most notable alumnus being Nicholas S ...

and went on to receive her

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in mathematics from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Her first introduction to computing came from a summer job in the early 1960s, after which she worked in computer-related jobs at the National Physical Laboratory and the GEC Hirst Research Centre. In 1968 she transitioned to teaching in

Higher National Certificate A Higher National Certificate (HNC), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is a higher education/further education qualification in the United Kingdom. Overview In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the HNC is a BTEC qualificatio ...

and

Higher National Diploma Higher National Diploma (HND), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is an academic higher education qualification in the United Kingdom and various other countries. They were first introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongsi ...

programs while working on her

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

on a part-time basis. She moved in 1973 to Hatfield – now the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

– where she was involved in designing an early example of a degree program in

. After the birth of her son in 1976, Bacon continued to teach while working on her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

at Hatfield part-time, studying kernel design and

Research career

In 1985 Bacon moved to a faculty position in the Computer Laboratory at the

, where her work focused on the design of distributed systems and

middleware Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue". Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement co ...

. She was the first woman to join the Computer Laboratory. There she was a co-leader of the Opera Research Group since its founding in the 1990s. She has also published several textbooks on concurrent and distributed systems. Bacon is a Fellow of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

and of the

British Computer Society Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957 BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, known as the British Computer Society until 2009, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in infor ...

. She was the founding

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of the IEEE publication now known as ''IEEE Distributed Systems Online'' and served two terms on the IEEE Board of Governors from 2002–04 and 2005–07. In 2013, she was awarded the honorary degree of

Doctor of the University An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

Personal life

Bacon has one son, born in 1976. She is also an artist and has exhibited paintings.

External links

Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 16 September 2008 (video)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Jean British women computer scientists British computer scientists Fellow Members of the IEEE Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Computer Society Living people 1942 births People educated at Penistone Grammar School